


meet me in the warehouse

by plinth_of_life



Category: Phandom/The Fantastic Foursome (YouTube RPF)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Getting Together, M/M, Pining
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-07-02
Updated: 2020-07-02
Packaged: 2021-03-05 06:15:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,654
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25039861
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/plinth_of_life/pseuds/plinth_of_life
Summary: Phil's unrequited crush on the brown haired, gangly guy at the cash register beside him may not be so unrequited after all?Based on Phil's story of his stationery store crush in "Coming Out - 1 Year Later"
Relationships: Dan Howell/Phil Lester
Comments: 7
Kudos: 57





	meet me in the warehouse

**Author's Note:**

> here's a little one shot I wrote after watching Phil's lovely video in my attempt to come out of my writing hiatus!
> 
> I hope you enjoy! keep an eye out for 'baby bluebird' as I plan on writing a new chapter soon :)

Phil didn’t exactly love working at WHSmith, the stationery store just a bus ride from home on the outskirts of Manchester. The customers were, at best, standoffish and, at worst, demanding and once in a while downright angry, especially around the holiday season. Every day, Phil had to deal with complaints about certain products being out of stock or impatient requests for refunds after their notebooks got rained on or ripped up by a dog or ruined due to some other odd excuse to get free merchandise. Besides his paycheck that went almost completely towards university savings and an excuse to get his parents to stop nagging him about getting a “real job”, the only aspect about his job that Phil actually enjoyed was the guy who worked beside him at the counter.

Phil couldn’t recount an actual conversation the two had over their past month working together, aside from standard pleasantries and nervous replies on Phil’s behalf that often left him with sweaty palms and pink cheeks but despite the fact that he barely knew the guy, his appearance was ingrained in Phil’s memory and something he often couldn’t get off his mind, even when he tried.

Those dark brown eyes were what first caught Phil’s attention. Normally, he had trouble making eye contact in conversation but something about those eyes was so warm and comforting and somehow made Phil feel safe, even if his heart couldn’t help but beat out of his chest. He loved catching a glimpse of those eyes whenever he could, mesmerized by their gleam under the fluorescent lights of the store, by the long and curly eyelashes that fluttered as he blinked, by the way they crinkled in the corners whenever he smiled. And truly, when he smiled, Phil couldn’t help but smile too. It was a special occasion whenever those dimples came out and Phil couldn’t count the number of times he lie in bed thinking about them, about how much he wished he could just lean over and kiss them right there at the service counter.

But, of course, this guy couldn’t know about any of that. In fact, Phil wasn’t really comfortable with anyone knowing that he fancied other guys. Sure, he had told a couple of university friends and his parents may have had some ideas based on the fact that he never brought any girls home (though he hadn’t quite worked up the nerve to bring home any guys either). Nevertheless, he thought it best to keep his sexuality under wraps at work. He didn’t know what he’d do if this guy knew there was even a possibility Phil could be into him. Though, to be fair, Phil wasn’t entirely sure this guy  _ wasn’t _ into him.

Perhaps he was leaning into the stereotypes but Phil had a sense this guy might also like other guys. Aside from the ugly baby blue polos the store required them to wear with their names emblazoned over the breast pocket (DANIEL, his said in all caps, though Phil still wasn’t quite sure if he should call him that or if he went by a nickname instead), Daniel, if that was his actual name, had impeccable style. He often wore ripped black jeans, a little short on his gangly legs, somehow even a bit longer than Phil’s. He had stud earrings, a gauge in one ear and what looked like a stick and poke tattoo on his ankle of a slightly faded small black heart. His brown hair was always flat ironed and usually gelled just enough to look styled but not too much to look overworked. Phil desperately wondered what it may feel like to run his hands through it…

“Morning, Phil!” Daniel chimed, pulling Phil out of his thoughts.

“Oh! Uh…” Phil nervously giggled and scratched the back of his head, eyes flicking between the floor and his smiling coworker. “M- m- morn, nice morn, yep good morning indeed…”

Daniel, still smiling, furrowed his eyebrows for a second and quietly chuckled, walking around the counter and setting his stuff down at the register next to Phil’s.

_ Why does he always choose to stand next to me???  _ Phil wondered to himself.

“Nice shoes, by the way,” Daniel said, pointing at Phil’s red and white trainers.

“Oh, uh, thanks, D—... Dan—... Daniel?” Phil replied, stumbling over his colleague’s name. “My mum got them for me at Marks & Spencer… ” he mumbled.

“Nice! And it’s just Dan, by the way. Ignore the name tag,” Dan said with a small grin.

Phil smiled shyly in response and breathed a sigh of relief as the first customer came in to distract him from his racing thoughts and beating heart.

… 

As the day progressed, the shop just became busier and busier. Customers bustled in and out looking for Christmas presents and cards to send to loved ones as Phil and Dan handled all the sales.

A half hour before Phil was planning on taking his lunch break, two customers approached the tills at the same time, an older woman on Phil’s end and a younger, professional-looking man on Dan’s. As both men began ringing the customers up, they reached for the box dispensing plastic bags under the counter. Without looking, Phil instinctively grabbed at what he first made contact with, not realizing for a moment this bag in particular was a lot warmer, softer, and less plastic-y than usual.

_ That’s not a bag _ , Phil realized, letting out a small yelp and snapping his hand away. He looked up sheepishly and saw Dan quietly chuckling to himself and shaking his head with a grin on his face. Phil’s eyes trailed to Dan’s left hand, the one bringing the bag up to the counter.

_ It sure felt nice though _ , Phil thought for a moment, then shook his head, trying to dispel the thought from his brain.

_ He’s your coworker! And he’s probably not even into you… _

But despite what his mind was telling him, Phil couldn’t deny the sweet look in Dan’s eyes as he glanced back at Phil’s right hand.

…

“Meet me in the warehouse in ten minutes.”

Phil gulped, his palms getting sweaty as he watched the bobble of Dan’s Santa hat swing around.

He didn’t realize Dan was staring directly at him until the other man cleared his throat, impatiently waiting for a reply.

“Oh, uh… yeah! Sure! Sounds… sounds good, Dan,” Phil sputtered, shaking his head and casting his eyes in every direction but Dan’s.

“I like your Santa hat by the way… Very festive…” he mumbled, trying his best to focus on closing up shop.

Okay, who was he kidding? Phil immediately ran upstairs to the staff room to start fixing his hair.

_ This is it. This is it. This HAS to be it! _

Phil frantically ran his fingers through his fringe with one hand and sprayed deodorant under his arms with the other. Closing up shop could wait. Whatever Dan had planned for him could not.

…

When he finally made it to the warehouse, Dan was waiting for him as promised. He was leaning against a box, a smile growing on his lips when his eyes caught sight of Phil. His arms were crossed but Phil could still see that his shirt was slightly unbuttoned and his collarbone was exposed.

Phil walked up to him slowly and leaned against the box opposite Dan, trying to mimic his cool pose but definitely not looking as cool doing it.

Dan was silent, eyeing Phil up and down, Santa hat still bobbing on his head. Phil was too scared to speak, swallowing his thoughts down into his throat the moment anything he wanted to say bubbled up.

Finally, Dan spoke in a hushed voice.

“Is anyone else down here?” His brown eyes panned around the warehouse warily.

“No, I th— I think it’s just… us,” Phil replied, trying to sound slightly sensual but coming off as just nervous instead.

“Oh good, the security camera’s not working. Looks like we’re in the clear,” he said to Phil with a smirk.

“To do what? Are you… going to steal something?”

“What?! No, I don’t know where you got that idea from. But there is something else I want to do.”

Before Phil had time to formulate a proper sentence, Dan pushed him up against the warehouse wall and began kissing him, hands grabbing firmly onto Phil’s hips.

Though taken aback and starting to wonder if this day, this man, or maybe this entire job was just a dream, Phil leaned into the kiss, hands roaming over Dan’s back.

After a few moments, Dan pulled away, a little breathless with a shy grin on his face.

“This okay with you?” Dan asked, hands still gripping Phil’s hips.

“No, yeah! For sure, for sure…” Phil stammered, still processing the feeling of another man’s body on his own.

“So that’s a yes?” Dan smirked.

Phil simply nodded, this time the one to lean in and kiss Dan, one hand reaching up to finally touch that fluffy brown hair.

…

Neither man was quite sure how long they had been in that warehouse making out but by the time they stopped, it had felt like hours.

“Well… that was nice,” Phil said shyly, considering giving Dan a wink but realizing that was a dumb idea.

“Yeah, we’ll have to do it again some time,” Dan replied, winking at the end of his sentence.

_ Wait, how does he do that so well? _ Phil thought to himself.

“You know, while we’re down here… We could steal a box of chocolates. To share, of course.” Dan said, reaching out a hand.

Phil took it and grinned.

“Only if we split it,  _ and _ once you promise you took me down here for other reasons beside petty larceny.”

“I promise, Phil. Now, you wanna steal some chocolate and make a run for it?”

Phil giggled and squeezed Dan’s hand.

“Nothing I’d rather do more.” 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! Comments, kudos, and reblogs are always appreciated.
> 
> Check me out on tumblr [@plinth-of-life](https://plinth-of-life.tumblr.com) <3


End file.
